The rise of political hooliganism must not be condoned

SEPT 9 —The rise of what can only be described as political hooliganism in Malaysia must not be tolerated.

And as the ruling coalition Barisan Nasional (BN) must take the lead to condemn such behaviour as recent cases show that Pakatan Rakyat (PR) politicians have been at the receiving end of such hooliganism.

A few months ago unidentified thugs threw rocks and eggs at a PKR ceramah in Kuala Lumpur, injuring a few members of the public.

It has become common for opposition politicians to face unruly gangs at rallies around the country.

Yesterday a bodyguard of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim allegedly waved his gun when confronted with a crowd of hooligans trying to block the opposition politician from attending a rally.

BN leaders and the authorities cannot just claim that they are not responsible for the hooliganism.

If BN political parties and leaders are not responsible they must then take the lead to pressure the police to take action, as well as publicly condemn it.

If doing the right thing is not motivation enough they should realise that the public does not condone such behaviour.

And BN will end up taking the blame anyway.

The typical middle class Malaysian in particular is growing into a very angry person.

Why?

Because he or she wants a level playing field, a mature Malaysia, a competition of ideas.

Violence and hooliganism is not the path forward for a mature democracy.

The political hooliganism supports the existing political establishment & order against change. It is spawned from our prevailing political ideology and social milieu. The hooligans in mooning at Ambiga, conducting funeral rites outside LGE’s residence, throwing rocks and eggs at a PKR ceramah or obstructing DSAI from attending it all have overarching objective to intimidate those esp Opposition/NGO leaders who oppose the incumbent ruling party and government. If they could do such acts to Opposition/NGO leaders and opposition’s ceramah (before GE13) there is every reason to think they will do the same if not more immediately post GE 13 especially if the GE results were against the ruling coalition. By extension of argument, if the ruling coalition/govt/authorities do nothing at this moment to condemn or curb such hooliganism at this moment (before GE13), wouldn’t the signal be given to such groups that such hooliganism if tacitly acquiesced to now will likewise be acquiesced to and tolerated, if not encouraged, to stonewall any result of the coming GE that may be unfavourable to the ruling coalition or which herald political/regime change? Or that their hooliganism then would provide perfect pretext for declaring in name of public order some kind of emergency (akin to what happened to what happened 43 years ago) to thwart what ought to constitutionally follow from election results?

In today’s political violence (elsewhere), more frequently we see cases of hooliganism pushing for regime change. These are lower-class or under class struggles against autocracy, the police, institutions or political authority. What is disconcerting is that here’s the political hooliganism aims at the opposite – they are attempts to negotiate for control over public behavior or political processes by overt or covert intimidation in support of (not against) existing political establishment and order against any political/regime change. The costs of hooliganism are lowered when slack is cut and leeway afforded by apparent absence of stringent law enforcement action being visibly seen taken against such unruly behaviour? Wouldn’t this draw more and more people opposed to political/regime change to join such groups to try arbiter and influence political outcome outside the agreed constitutional framework???

People hoping optimistically for a New Dawn should be prepared for along night in which we now witness a descending dusk. The conclusion is inevitable if reality is grasped and not superseded by naive hopes.

It is simply naive to think that a network of vested political corporate business network put in place over 50 years will be permitted to be drastically changed and overhauled by a day or two’s ballot process!

Yes, a very very worrying trend. They want to stay in power, by hook or by crook.
I am not sure what the solution is.
In the meantime, I hope and pray that there are some sane people in UMNO, who can see that this is wrong, very wrong.The change will come difficult.

We must change the tenant at Putrajaya. GE 13 is coming. Despite all obstacles, we must go to GE 13, then to Putrajaya.

Change we must. Change we can. Change we will. Change through the ballot box.

They are hanging by the rope. It wasnt a long rope and they are slipping fast. And they know well that the end of the rope is approaching soon – very soon. So they got desparate. In fact for some, desperation has turned into panic.

Let’s cut short their suffering, shall we? Let’s cut the rope. I would. And I would also throw several tonnes of rambutans down at them. Hopefully, cintanegara doesnt mind that. But being a law abiding citizen, I would still wait for GE13, elusive though the event may seem.

Then again, what we are witnessing is nothing other than the desperate kicks of the falling umno. They are just wasting energy. That means they are hastening the inevitable fall. Hopefully, the fall comes before GE13.

Actually the physical hooliganism is NOTHING and only a prelude to the real hooliganism within UMNO/BN administration that is coming.

I have a deep suspicion for example, the Budget for example will be manipulated to the extent that its detached from reality..The deficit will be completely unrealistic especially on the revenue and entitlement spending..It will be a hooligan budget – THAT is the kind of hooliganism I really fear..

Hooliganism – what do you expect from a keris-waving ex-UMNO YOuth leader? It’s in his political DNA.

Oh, some joker met Hilary Clinton & talked about Global Movement of Moderates! What a laugh! Hilary must have fallen off her chair laughing. It’s just trying to humour some UMNO bloke who is the PM of Bolehland. You humour him.